textproduct: Amarillo

KEY MESSAGES

Issued at 1019 PM CST Fri Dec 5 2025

- Breezy southwesterly winds expected across the Panhandles on Saturday, but especially the southwestern Texas Panhandle where 20 to 30 mph sustained winds are expected with gusts up to 40 mph.

SHORT TERM

(Tonight through Sunday night) Issued at 1019 PM CST Fri Dec 5 2025

As of the mid-evening hours, water vapor satellite imagery shows a shortwave trough entering the Pacific Northwest. This trough will move off to the southeast through the night and through Saturday with a surface low moving from Montana through Nebraska. Meanwhile, a secondary surface low will develop in northeastern New Mexico later Saturday morning. Owing to a tightened surface pressure gradient, winds will become breezy especially in the southwestern Panhandles where 20-30 mph sustained winds are favored with gusts between 30-40 mph. Elsewhere in the CWA winds will be comparatively weaker at 15-25 mph with gusts up to 25-35 mph. Winds should peak in intensity in the late morning/early afternoon hours since the surface low will move southeast across the Panhandles in the mid to late afternoon. Temperatures will warm into the upper-50s to mid- 60s in the afternoon before a cold front moves in Saturday night.

Northerly to northwesterly winds will be present through most, if not all, of the day on Sunday in the post-frontal airmass. Despite this, and an anticipated partly cloudy sky, temperatures will be only be a few degrees cooler than normal.

Vanden Bosch

LONG TERM

(Monday through next Friday) Issued at 1019 PM CST Fri Dec 5 2025

A fairly stagnant weather pattern is expected to set up for this coming work week. Operational and the vast majority of ensemble model guidance agrees that a Western US ridge will build and largely stay put as persistent troughing reigns over the Upper Midwest, Great Lakes, and the Eastern US. This results in a Western US warm/Eastern US cold dichotomy. The Panhandles will see influences from both regimes: while warmer than normal temperatures are favored through the week, embedded shortwave troughs will cause for some weak/modified cold fronts to move into the area. Currently looking at highs in the 50s to mid-60s for the entire work week with essentially no hope for precipitation. There are some episodic hints that a more potent cold front could work into the Central/Southern Plains later in the week, but there is very low confidence at this time.

Vanden Bosch

AVIATION

(12Z TAFS) Issued at 315 AM CST Sat Dec 6 2025

VFR conditions at all terminals for the next 24 hours. A passing weather system will bring gusty daytime winds to all terminals and across the panhandles. Going into tonight the winds at the surface will most likely cease gusting and become weaker. However in doing so this will set up LLWS for all terminals during the late evening and early morning hours of Sunday. Towards the mid morning hours the LLWS will dissipate as the winds become weaker aloft.

FIRE WEATHER

Issued at 1105 PM CST Fri Dec 5 2025

Breezy and somewhat dry conditions are expected today in the southern Texas Panhandle, and especially in the southwest, on Saturday. However, fuels are believed to be generally unreceptive owing to the recent exceptional RH recovery at night and cool temperatures, and for applicable locations, Wednesday night's snow. Therefore, not forecasting elevated fire weather conditions, but be mindful that there will be a wind factor if there are any initial attack fires.

AMA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

TX...None. OK...None.